


in the light of the day

by goblinhimbo



Series: Ranboo Centric Stories [7]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Valentine's Day, cuteness, dont be creepy, they're best friends your honor, this is platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29414382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goblinhimbo/pseuds/goblinhimbo
Summary: Tubbo's been more secretive lately, and Ranboo would just like to know his friend is okay.
Relationships: Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo
Series: Ranboo Centric Stories [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121798
Comments: 13
Kudos: 322





	in the light of the day

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by Tubbo jokingly asking Ranboo to be his platonic valentine's on the other's day's stream!
> 
> this story's title was taken from the song 'No Matter What' from the Steven Universe movie soundtrack.
> 
> also, friendly reminder that if you even look at my fic and you ship them, i will murder you myself. they are minors and are not comfortable being shipped. this fic is completely platonic.

Running around L’manhole was one way Ranboo liked to spend his time these days. Seeing his old home almost completely blown up was oddly cathartic for the enderman hybrid, especially as he grew to accept that it being gone was the best thing for it’s old citizens, even if he wished it had happened in a less violent way.

Even the ex-president himself, Tubbo, seemed genuinely better off with it gone. At first Ranboo had been worried about him, concerned that his friend would take the fall of the country as a personal fault. And he did, to some extent, but he seemed to be able to move past it relatively easily, even creating another community. 

Snowchester scared Ranboo, a bit. He didn’t want more sides to be created, and he especially didn’t want another government. He could admit that his present company he was keeping was affecting his views on the subject. But regardless of his personal concerns, Ranboo was happy to see Tubbo immediately start on another project. It seemed to be doing him some good, and if other people found themselves feeling safe in Snowchester, then it was worth it in his eyes. 

Of course, Ranboo still found himself constantly worrying about Tubbo, even if he seemed to mostly be alright. He knew that the ex-president had a nasty habit of placing too much blame and responsibility on himself, likely due to the people around him constantly doing so. The boy was seventeen for Notch’s sake, he should never have been placed in charge of an entire country.

Ranboo also knew that Tubbo tended to keep his uglier feelings close to his chest, never letting on to the fact that not everything was sunshine and rainbows. It was as if he saw his own feelings as a burden that he had to bear alone, never asking for assistance from those who would gladly give it to him without second thought.

If Tubbo so asked, Ranboo knew that not only would he come to his friends aid, so would Tommy. Even as strained as those two’s friendship had gotten due to the exile, and even as strained as it still was, Tommy would never think a second before coming to his best friend’s aid. 

But as it was, Tommy was trying to move on as well. Ranboo had seen the hotel he had commissioned to be built and had seen the younger boy run around collecting materials with a single mindedness Ranboo didn’t even know he had been capable of. Unless Tubbo said something, Tommy would never know anything was wrong. And Ranboo knew Tubbo would likely never say anything.

So, as it was Ranboo was pretty sure he was the only one keeping a careful eye on Tubbo. And in this case, he was probably the only one who had noticed the fact that he had been even more secretive than normal the past week. 

And by more secretive than normal, Ranboo didn’t mean that he was more quiet, or that he seemed to be doing more poorly and trying to act like he wasn’t. No, what Ranboo meant was that the boy was sneaking around, disappearing from Snowchester without warning and without telling any of the other citizens where he was going, or even that he was going in the first place. Trust him, Ranboo had asked every single one. On multiple occasions. 

He knows how that sounds, but the last time Tubbo had kept a secret from Ranboo, it had been literal  _ nukes.  _ He deserves to be a bit concerned.

Suddenly Ranboo caught sight of movement from across the L’manhole, bringing him out of his musings. That was odd. Usually he was the only one he saw running around the place, everyone else tending to avoid it like the plague. Too many memories, good or bad. 

Squinting his eyes, Ranboo leaned forward from where he had been taking a short rest. The person was far enough away that he could only really make out the colors, a mix of light yellow and browns. Ranboo quickly went through the usual attire of everyone on the server mentally, quickly landing on the only person who he saw regularly wear those colors. But what was Tubbo doing here?

Ranboo stood, keeping his movements slow. He was far enough away that unless Tubbo looked directly at him it was unlikely he would be spotted, but he was still cautious. 

For a moment Ranboo wondered if he should follow Tubbo or if he should just go straight back home. The urge to follow Tubbo was strong, the curiosity and concern for his friend combining into a strong urge to know what was happening. But, no. Ranboo wanted to be a good friend, especially to Tubbo who had always shown him kindness, even when Ranboo didn’t know if he deserved it. He had to respect his friend’s privacy, at least until Tubbo’s actions became genuinely worrisome. 

As quickly as he could while still going unnoticed, Ranboo made his way to the enderportal. His thoughts while heading back home were filled with worries about his friend’s mental state, even as he tried to reassure himself that he was likely fine. He knew that Tubbo was more than capable, he had proved that when he ran an entire country. But even still, Ranboo couldn’t help but worry. 

Once he had reached his home, newly renovated into being a genuinely nice looking place with the help of Tubbo, he rushed inside and into his comfort room. With barely a thought, he plopped himself down onto the ground, beckoning Enderchest to him. 

The cat wandered over to him lazily, curling up on his lap slowly. He felt some of his tension leave him as he pet her. He sighed deeply, his thoughts still whirling with worry even as he calmed down slowly.

Maybe he should have followed Tubbo after all? At least then he could know that his friend was safe, he wouldn’t be stuck just sitting around and worrying. What if Tubbo was getting himself into trouble or danger, and Ranboo wasn’t there? He knew that despite what everyone else seemed to think, Tubbo could be just as chaotic as Tommy, which meant he could easily get hurt. 

Notch, this sucked. He just wanted to know that his friend was safe and okay, was that so much to ask for?

After some time had passed and Ranboo calmed as best he would be able to until he saw Tubbo himself, safe and sound, he began to drift off into sleep. The purring of Enderchest and the mundane, familiar sounds of the rest of his pets lulling him into a light slumber, even sitting up. 

It was an unknown amount of time later that Ranboo jolted awake suddenly, disturbing Enderchest into jumping off him with a complaining meow. He softly muttered an apology to her, wondering what had startled him not only into wakefulness, but into jumping so harshly. 

He got his answer a few seconds later, when from up above he heard loud knocking on his door and a familiar voice called out, “Hello? You home, big man?”

Excitement and anxiety curled together in his chest as Tubbo’s voice registered. Tubbo was safe! But that didn’t mean he wasn’t in trouble, or even hurt. What if Tubbo had seen Ranboo, and was mad at him for some reason? What if he thought he was stalking him or something? What if-

“Unless you answer me in the next ten seconds I’m gonna assume you’re not home!”

Ranboo scrambled to his feet, calling out in response, “I’m home, sorry! Gimme a second!”

“Hurrying up, it's cold Ranboo,” Tubbo whined loudly, drawing out the syllables childishly.

Climbing up the ladder as quickly as he could, Ranboo rolled his eyes. Tubbo  _ also  _ lived in the snow, and at least he had an outfit actually meant for the cold!

Within only a couple seconds, Ranboo was at the door, yanking it open. On the other side stood Tubbo, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Interestingly, he had a satchel that Ranboo had never seen before. Usually when Tubbo got more than he could carry, he would just whine at someone until they carried it for him. 

“Big man!” Without warning, Tubbo practically launched himself at him into a hug, causing Ranboo to stumble back ever so slightly. 

What? Why was Tubbo being so weird? The concern in Ranboo grew tenfold, even as he slowly wrapped his arms around the shorter boy in response to the sudden hug.

“Uh, hi?” He forced a chuckle, trying to not let anxiety be too obvious.

Just as suddenly as the hug started, it stopped as Tubbo pulled back quickly. The ex-president walked around him into the house, loudly complaining more about the cold as Ranboo shut the door.

“Tubbo, not that I don’t love you randomly showing up without any warning, but is there any reason you’re here?” he interrupted.

Pausing mid step, Tubbo seemed to falter at the question. “Well, does there need to be any reason for me to visit one of my best friends? Maybe I just wanted to hang out!” Tubbo exclaimed cheerfully, thought Ranboo could detect a hint of defensiveness behind the words.    
  
“Of course not, you can come over whenever you want Tubbo, you know that. I am always more than happy to see you. It’s just that… Well, it’s just that you’re acting kind of oddly, and I wanted to know if you needed anything from me. Like, if there was anything wrong.”

Tubbo visibly seemed to soften at his response, shoulders untensing. “No, I’m okay. I’m sorry if I was worrying you.”

“It’s okay,” Ranboo reassured, “I just want to make sure you’re okay. You’re my best friend, Tubbo, if there's something wrong I wanna know.”

There was a long moment of silence before Tubbo answered, “Thanks. But, I’m alright! I had a surprise, it’s a good thing!”

Cocking his head to the side, Ranboo said inquiringly, “A surprise?”

“Yep!” Tubbo said cheerfully, a wide, excited grin on his face that seemed genuinely happy. Ranboo found himself smiling back, despite his wariness of what the surprise would entail. Whatever it was, it would be worth it. Anything that could make Tubbo smile like that, as if nothing bad could ever reach them, was worth it.

Sighing, Ranboo said half jokingly, half genuinely worried, “Oh boy. Alright then, what's the surprise?”

“You have to close your eyes!”

Ranboo raised his eyebrows incredulously, saying “Really? I have to close my eyes? You’re not going to like, I don’t know, hit me or anything?”   


“I would never!” Tubbo put a hand over his heart, mock offendedly. 

“Mhmm, sure you wouldn’t.”

“Okay, well, maybe I would, but I won’t today! Promise!”

Laughing, Ranboo said while closing his eyes, “Okay, okay, fine. But if the surprise is really just a prank, I will be highly upset with you.”

“Well it’s not, so I have nothing to worry about!”

Ranboo kept his eyes tightly shut as he heard ruffling noises, though he allowed himself to ponder about what the ‘surprise’ could be. It’s not like it was his birthday or Christmas. But… Wait, wasn’t today-

“Okay, put out your hands!” 

“Uh, okay, like this?” He lifted up his hands, cupping them together in front of him. 

“Yeah, that’s good.”

There were another couple seconds of rummaging sounds before he felt something be gently put into his hands, then another something on top of that. He waited a few moments before asking, “Can I look now?”

As soon as he got a confirmation, he opened his eyes and looked to see what he was holding. In his hands lay a journal, made of a soft leather dyed black with a white spine, the cover embroidered with bees. On top of that was a cupcake, chocolate with a purple frosting. On top of the frosting was a small, plastic crown.

His eyes widened at the sight of the gifts, and he silently looked up at Tubbo. His friend was shifting his weight from foot to foot anxiously, his hands twisting together in front of him. 

“Uhm, I know this is dumb and stuff, but would you be my platonic valentine this year? I know Valentine's day is usually for couples and romance and stuff but, I like to uh, have platonic valentines and stuff cause like, platonic love is important too, you know?”

Happy laughter nearly bubbled out of Ranboo’s chest, but he held it in. He didn’t want to risk Tubbo thinking he was laughing  _ at _ him. “It’s not dumb, it’s not dumb at all Tubbo. Of course I’ll be your platonic valentine, thank you, Tubbo.”

The answering smile he got was nearly blinding. “Yay! Do you like your gifts?”

“I love them so much, they’re wonderful. Thank you, Tubbo.” He picked the cupcake up off the journal, clutching the book to his chest happily. Softly, so quietly he almost doubted that Tubbo would be able to hear it, he said. “I love you.”

“I love you too, big man! Now come on, I wanna share the cupcake.”

“Hmmm, I don't know, this is  _ my _ cupcake after all!”

Tubbo’s answering whine made Ranboo nearly double over with laughter. Ranboo was so painfully aware in the moment that this wouldn't last forever, that there likely would come a day where Tubbo wasn’t okay and all of Ranboo’s worst fears came true. But for today none of that could hurt them. 

For today, they could just be kids, the way they were meant to be. They would laugh and tease each other and be happy. And even as temporary as it all was, it was also beautiful. Ranboo wouldn’t trade it for anything. 


End file.
